Tag Archives: bill

New York State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn) is on a roll, and we’re only 11 days in to the New Year. Earlier today we reported that he wants to install mandatory breathalyzers in New Yorkers’ automobiles by 2015, and now we get wind that he’s proposing a tax on kids’ rice cakes and video entertainment.

Ortiz has noticed that kids are getting kind of fat, so he’s slapping a wee little tax—one quarter of one percent—on sales of all the foods listed as sweets or snacks in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, plus a tax on sale and rentals of video games and movies and game controllers. (A faint silver lining: Reading this bill taught me what DVD stands for. Digital Versatile Disk, apparently. Who knew?) That money goes to an “Childhood Obesity Prevention Program Fund.” But the tax fails to distinguish between good and bad snack, and good and bad video games. So in the name of obesity prevention, education games will get hit, as will these USDA-listed snacks …

Here’s another blooper from Ortiz’ proposed ‘anti-obesity’ tax: Kids and adults intent on purchasing Nintendo’s Wii ‘Fit’ games would be penalized with a sin tax. According to People magazine, First Lady Michelle Obama encourages her two girls to engage in Wii’s virtual physical fitness games on a regular basis.

Got some advice for Ortiz before his next attempt to legislate the behaviors and eating habits of New Yorkers both young and old? Contact his office.

NYS Assemblyman demonstrates what can happen when 'average' citizens drink alcohol excessively. Ironically, he seems to assume most New Yorkers are already hardcore alcoholics, otherwise, he wouldn't be proposing mandatory breathalyzers be installed in their automobiles.

The last time we heard from Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn), he was desperately trying to ban the use of salt in New York restaurants, followed by getting drunk to the point of vomiting on ‘Four Loko’ to prove why it also needs to be banned. Now, Ortiz wants to install breathalyzers in every New Yorker’s automobile by 2015.

Plain and simple, Ortiz does not trust New Yorkers to drink responsibly. Instead of targeting his efforts, state resources and millions in taxpayer dollars on keeping unrepentant alcoholics and repeat offenders off the roads, he prefers punishing responsible drivers and drinkers with Big Brother technology that has a zero tolerance policy towards alcohol and their use of personal judgment.

"Congratulations on one of our final acts of sabotaging democracy and freedom together!"

Here’s something to chew on that you’ll be hard-pressed to find in the State-Run Media’s news buffet: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released “precise” new data last week that “thoroughly refute the misleading claims of alarmists advocating for vastly expanding federal regulation of the food supply.”

The House recently passed its version of the Food Safety bill using exaggerated CDC numbers from 1999 to create the aura of a crisis in Americans’ minds, reports the Heritage Foundation. On Sunday evening, the Senate pushed ahead in turning myths in to reality by agreeing to pass the ‘junk science’ legislation with a voice vote, despite the CDC’s new report released last Wednesday showing significant drops in food-borne illnesses and related deaths.

Just another instance of big government bureaucrats neglecting to take the time to read anything pertinent to the issue at hand before ‘passing the bill‘ and screwing American citizens with needless reforms for the sake of “change.”

Fundraisers like Denver Public Schools' "Bake Sale to Benefit Haiti" could soon be banned by President Obama.

Public school students that depend on proceeds from bake sales to cover the costs of their extracurricular activities will soon need to find another way to raise money. President Obama is expected to sign his wife’s cupcake-crushing Child Nutrition bill today, but a grassroots coalition is telling concerned citizen’s the war on bake sales isn’t over until the last cookie crumbles:

“Parents and local communities are outraged at the federal government’s usurpation of power,” says Orit Sklar, national spokeswoman of the consumer coalition My Food. My Choice!. “It represents everything the American people have been rejecting from Washington.”

Opponents of the bill cite major concerns with the overreach of government and the unfunded mandates placed on local communities and taxpayers. In protest, parents and students are participating in the inaugural ‘National Bake Sale Month.’

“As long as this is the law of the land, each December we’re going to come together to celebrate ‘National Bake Sale Month’ to highlight the absurdity of the law and share how school fundraisers help to provide the essentials our children need especially during tough economic times.”

Spread the word about this latest recipe for disaster cooked-up by the Obama Administration. Together with our allies at My Food. My Choice!, let’s show the Obamas how real “change” happens through embracing democracy, not fascism.

Read the tagline. It's not just a catchy slogan; it's how bureaucrats like Greg Mertzig think of themselves.

A nanny state bureaucrat in Superior, Wisc. is equating the lure of Happy Meal toys to candy cigarettes, claiming both types of novelty items encourage “lethal habits” that need to be controlled “at a very young age.”

“It was a marketing tactic by the tobacco industry to get kids to think it was cool to smoke at a very young age, develop these lethal habits at a very young age,” says City Councilor Greg Mertzig. “To a lesser extent, these toys in their Happy Meals kind of do the same thing. They reward kids and get them to think that it’s the okay thing to do at a very young age.”

Mertzig, an Iraq and Afghanistan war vet, told Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) that he’s firing at will upon fast food restaurants that, he says, are making America’s future soldiers too fat to fight. And, he claims his constituents support his efforts to determine how and what parents feed their own children:

“They don’t meet the physical requirements to join the military so there was an argument that it was actually a national security issue. And so through the dialogue with my constituents we decided and I decided that day that we needed to do something.”

Mertzig’s proposed ordinance would “ban free toys in meals with more than 600 calories, 10% fat and can’t have any trans fat. It could also require fruits or vegetables and whole grain foods,” reports WPR’s Mike Simonson.

The Happy Meal toy ban will be offered to the city council on Dec. 7. If Mertzig musters enough support, it will be voted on by the the council members at a later date.

While the State-Run Media continues to applaud San Francisco’s self-proclaimed promoters of “food justice,” Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that he’s not lovin’ the Happy Meal toy ban and will veto it:

“From encouraging salad bars and exercise in our schools to allowing use of food stamps in farmers markets, no city in America has done more to educate our children and encourage families to make healthier eating choices. We must continue to take steps to combat childhood obesity, a genuine health crisis in America, but this bill takes the wrong approach. Parents, not politicians, should decide what their children eat, especially when it comes to spending their own money. Despite its good intentions, I will veto this unwise and unprecedented governmental intrusion into parental responsibilities and private choices.”

After all of the national media coverage the Happy Meal toy ban has enjoyed in recent weeks, it’s rather interesting that as of 11 p.m. EST on Thursday, only 2 media outlets have reported Newsom’s intention to veto the Happy Meal toy ban.

Now, for the bad news: Despite Newsom’s pledge to veto the Happy Meal toy ban, the Board of Supervisors currently has enough votes to override it when it comes up for a final vote within the next two weeks. At that time, the same fascists that voted 8-3 in favor of the ban will vote to sustain or overturn Newsom’s veto.

Upton's so environmentally friendly that he just rolls to work in a tire.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) survived the Tea Party’s purge of RINOs from Congress and now he’s angling to become the Chairman of the House Energy Committee. As the NSLF warned voters prior to last week’s election, he can’t be trusted to legislate in the best interests of our nation and its citizens:

This RINO has cast way too many votes enabling Speaker Pelosi and her boss, President Obama, to bankrupt America by any means necessary. On top of that, Upton’s an environmental wingnut who Democrats say is “someone they can work with on energy and climate issues.” Thanks to Fred and his friends across the aisle, beginning in 2012, old-fashioned light bulbs will be phased-out and replaced with those super-expensive ‘energy-efficient’ bulbs. Despite co-sponsoring the light bulb ban, Upton’s now trying to downplay his involvement the bill’s passage.